Desmond Chapter Four
Chapter Four
1955
He'd always had them right where he wanted them.
Desmond stands at a podium, addressing a packed audience. Next to him there is a poster stand, featuring the cover of his book, “A Million Eyes”. Off to the side of the stage Wendy watches her husband deliver his lecture. She glances at the poster, her brow ruffled slightly. One might expect, due to it's title, to see perhaps a depiction of countless eyes, distancing into infinity. Instead the poster is an illustration of a single eye, in the centre of the image, with many hands reaching inwards towards it.
Desmond stands in a relaxed position, his own hands resting on the podium before him. His low voice resonates across the still auditorium.
"Other possibilities for perception, presented by way of scientific theories that have been around since the early part of this century. Namely the associated theories of Entanglement. "
The audience is mostly young people, students and curiosity seekers. The front row is dominated by several attractive young woman who stare up at Desmond with rapt attention.
"Entanglement can be demonstrated, as such, in the form of several thought experiments. For the purpose of this discussion I will limit my examples to one experiment - in which a particle accelerator is utilized to send two identical photons away from each other, originating from the same point, at the speed of light."
Wendy shifts her weight from foot to foot, trying to ignore the aching in her legs. She has already refused the offer of a chair from Jimmy, Desmond's agent. The heat from all of the bodies in the place is like a blanket over her shoulders, and at the thought of this she unconsciously shrinks back against the wall. Further off to the back of the stage, Jimmy is hunched at a desk, talking quietly into a phone. He's a round and apparently hairless man who never seems to take off his hat, not even indoors. Especially indoors. Wendy supposes he's doing his job right now, but then the workings off an agent's career was something she had taken little initiative to understand.
"The experiment envisions a change to one of the photons, say a slight alteration to its' y axis. And reveals the exact same change occurring in the opposite photon, at precisely the same time, even as both photons move away from each other at the speed of light."
A subtle shifting in the audience, accompanied by low murmurs. Wendy smiles to herself. Either this is new information and they're just letting it sink in, or they are educated enough to know and now want to see where he goes with this.
"It can be said that while the phenomenon of entanglement has yet to be physically demonstrated, it has been proven as a mathematical fact. So then what does this all mean? One could say that it shows us the nature of matter in the universe. You could theorize as to what this reveals about various forms of energy - gravity, magnetism, and so forth."
Ever the performer, Desmond pauses to take a drink of water, then fixes the audience with a steely gaze. He leans forward, hands gripping the sides of the podium. "But I believe the implications go much deeper than this."
The audience unconsciously mimics Desmond, leaning forward in their seats.
"I believe - and I intend to prove - that the mathematically verifiable phenomena of entanglement demonstrates the existence of Multiple Dimensions."
1958
Wendy can hear her own voice coming back to her now, like an echo from within. Dr Alan's office seems to be expanding around her as she speaks, everything is pulling away from her. She is alone.
"It was his words, his writing, the way he spoke - that attracted me to him the most. Even at the beginning, his ideas were so vast and complex and poetic, they seemed to create a gravity around him that I was drawn to…"
The doctor waits somewhere out in the ever widening beyond, he waits for her to continue. Wendy knows that he is there, she can sense his anticipation, a pen hovering over a page… Waiting words, words for waiting. Waiting for her... But Wendy also knows that she is alone. How could it be otherwise?
Her husband is dead.
"He was… So beautiful. So strong, filled with energy and spirit… But also he seemed to be searching, reaching for something. I wanted to help him, somehow... I could sense that for all of his power, that he needed someone to help him, to guide him... I knew that would be my duty, my calling: to help this man, to channel his energy towards something great..."
It's senseless to keep talking this way. He is gone. She should stop.
"But it was his mind, that intense, wondering, exploring mind of his... That was what I fell in love with -why I still love him now…"
So senseless. Why is she saying these things?
"And that’s what brought it all down."
1954
They loved him, really did love him, apparently better than she ever could. Wendy stands off to the side and watches Desmond as he works the lobby of the Lecture Hall. He signs copies of his book and smiles and shakes hands with the mob of admirers that surround him. They gaze at him with an open and honest love, a completely naked and innocent thing. They love him more than you could love someone that you actually knew.
At her side, Jimmy rocks back and forth on his heels, thumbs jammed into the pockets of his trousers. He rocks forward and springs up a bit on his toes, then falls back to his heels, spares a quick glance at Wendy.
"Pretty good turnout tonight," Jimmy says, pulling a thumb from his pocket and jerking it towards the crowd, as though she needed directions as to what he was talking about.
"Sure…"
Jimmy smiles to himself and watches the crowd some more. A young woman with her hair tied up in a blond ponytail waits eagerly as Desmond signs her book. She beams as he hands it back and exchanges a few kind words. I hope you continue to pursue your ambitions, we need more people like you, or, it's very gratifying to know that my work has been appreciated by such a bright soul, or, I love you, too...
Jimmy rubs his chin and grins, watching. "Lots of ladies at these things."
Wendy laughs. "Comes with the territory." The girl skip steps over to her group of friends, book clutched to her chest, blond ponytail bobbing. Her friends gather around her in an excitable clutch and they begin to make their way towards the exit.
"They really eat this stuff up." Jimmy grunts and stands up on tiptoes one last time. "Well, it looks like that's about the last of them…"
Jimmy drops from his tiptoes and bounces forward, moving towards Desmond. A few stragglers linger around Desmond, including an old white haired man in a ratty sports coat. The man is talking non stop at Desmond, rambling about time and space and meaning and the nature of thought and how one thought only exists to create the next thought and how it never arrives at any conclusion, just thoughts creating thoughts because time is just an illusion and fear is our way of trying to control this process-
Jimmy cuts in with a hand across Desmond's chest. "Allrighty folks, we wanna thank you for coming out, but Mister Roberts has a long drive ahead of him…"
The old crank lifts his finger, wanting to continue his point, and Jimmy steps directly in front of Desmond, lifting his hands before the crowd. "And for those of you that live anywhere around the Hamilton area, we'll be holding a new seminar with new information at the Hamilton Civic Centre on February 18th. Thank you all again."
Congratulations and thank you’s are extended as the last of the audience walks away. The crank orbits listlessly nearby, eyes rheumy and hopeful. Jimmy turns his back on him and claps Desmond on the shoulder.
"Great show Desi. Excellent turnout."
Desmond watches the people as they leave, a smile plastered across his face. Soon everyone, even the old crank, has moved a respectable distance away. Then Desmond drops the smile and spins his face directly towards Jimmy.
"Cut the shit Jimmy. You said there were going to be some real scientists here tonight!"
Jimmy steps back and scans the distant crowd. "I’m pretty sure there were some Science Majors out there…"
Just then, so fast that Wendy doesn't even see it, Desmond grabs hold of Jimmy's arm.
"I don’t want fucking students, Jimmy! I want someone with some real credibility to take what I’m saying here seriously!"
Wendy steps forward, partly in a half hearted attempt to intervene, but also in the hopes of blocking the altercation from anyone else's view. She looks around to check if anyone is noticing, then looks back at the two men.
Jimmy is making a slow and deliberate show of looking directly at his arm where Desmond has grabbed him. After a moment, Desmond releases Jimmy. Jimmy straightens his jacket, then leans in and looks Desmond directly in the eye.
"The first thing you need to do - if you want to be taken seriously - is behave like an adult, Desmond…"
She has to admit it. Jimmy is holding his own, even as Desmond - a man considerably larger and more aggressive - stares back at him with barely controlled fury. It would seem that Jimmy has been in these types of situations before.
Then Jimmy relaxes, reaching up and placing a hand on Desmond's shoulder.
"These things take time, Desi. I mean, trying to impress scientists is a little out of my purview as an agent, you know?"
Jimmy smiles winningly at Desmond. Desmond crosses his arms and looks away.
Wendy moves cautiously towards her husband, relieved now that this little storm has passed. He uncrosses his arms and takes both of her hands in his. She looks into his eyes and watches the anger slowly drain away. A small and reluctant smile pulls up one side of his mouth as he gazes back at her. Then Wendy notices, over Desmond's shoulder, a man approaching from down the hallway. Desmond senses her attention and turns around to watch with her.
The man is tall with slicked black hair and a black suit. He moves with a precise military bearing, walking straight up to Desmond and stopping directly in front of him.
"Mister Roberts? I was wondering if I could have a word with you."
The man's voice is deep and smooth, enveloping the group like a rising fog. A voice full of shadows. Wendy clutches Desmond's arm instinctively, unable to tear her gaze from the man standing before them. Ice blue eyes calmly look back from a rough and deeply lined face. His expression somehow manages to convey complete neutrality along with an air of expectation.
Desmond peers at the man incredulously. Jimmy keeps looking at everyone - at Wendy, then Desmond, then the man, then back to Desmond. The man ignores everyone except Desmond.
"And what would you like to have a word with me about, Mister…"
"Armstrong. And it’s about, uh, " And now for the first time the man, this Armstrong, glances at Wendy and Jimmy, "about an issue of a somewhat sensitive nature…"
Desmond seems unperturbed, has gone back to folding his arms again. "Are you a police officer, Mister Armstrong?"
"No, Mister Roberts. I work for the government. And to be honest with you, what we need to be discussing is a matter of national security, and so…"
Armstrong steps forward and places a hand on Desmond’s shoulder. He begins to pull Desmond away. Something is not right with this, Wendy thinks. She moves to intervene by placing a hand on Armstrong's arm. Beneath her hand, through the material of the suit, she can feel Armstrong's muscles. While Desmond is muscular in a fleshy way, Armstrong's arm is like banded steel.
"Where are you taking my husband?" Wendy is barely able to produce a whisper. Just then she notices that three other men - agents, she supposes - have appeared in the lobby, leaning against the walls and watching the group.
Armstrong addresses her calmly. "Mrs. Roberts, I just need a few moments of your husband's time. I promise to return him to you in perfect condition."
Armstrong's mouth remains the same impassive grimace, but there is a hint of a smile around his eyes. She senses some warmth, some humanity, being allowed to show through the cool exterior of this man. But she still doesn't trust him.
"Honey…" Wendy pleads Desmond, moving her hand from Armstrong's arm to his own. "Don't..."
Desmond places his other hand on hers, gives it a quick squeeze. "It’s okay Wendy. I’ll be right back."
And then her husband moves away from her, slipping out of her grip. Desmond follows Armstrong, to be joined by the other agents as they leave through a side exit. Wendy looks on despairingly. She wants to run after them, to do something. But what? What could she do?
Instead she wheels around to confront Jimmy. "Whole lot of good you were!"
Wendy turns and stalks away, leaving Jimmy shrugging to himself.
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